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We had the archery competition today. A few weeks ago, I said that I would share the results of the archery competition. It was great fun! I said I would post the results before I won, so this isn’t bragging, it’s just stating the results J… I must say that I didn't really win 1st Place overall if you count the women's group. Among the men, I was 1st, but there was a woman (with perhaps a little more experience) who did get a higher score. She got 330, and I got 323. But they score the groups separately, so...

Here’s the men's scoreboard:

Here’s my certificate and personal scorecard:

I think I will continue doing this, because it really was a lot of fun!

最近の画像つき記事

I met Hiroyuki Yasuda today in my Japanese class. He was a special guest, and he is the creator of "Rabi Papa."

He is not only a great author and artist, but he is a very nice person as well.

He showed us some of his sketches and some of his original drawings, and then he showed us the drawing process and let each of us give it a try.

We...

...all...

...worked...

...very...

...hard!

He is also working on a new comic book, but the title has not yet been determined.

We even got to color one of his original drawings. I colored the shoes black. He uses a pen to color the black parts, but for other colors, he uses a special kind of paper.

You have to cut pieces of the special paper so they fit exactly in the spots that need to be colored. It seems like a very long and difficult process.

After I got Yasuda-san’s autograph, and got this picture taken, I left the class to go home. However, I decided to return because I wanted to ask if I could post the pictures on my blog. He said that I could, plus he gave me the original picture that we all had worked on. I hope other students don’t get jealous.

Anyway, it was a good thing I listened to my inner voice again telling me to return to the classroom. What a great reward!

This is an amazing clip of an incredible artist. My sister sent me the link in a forwarded email. Sometimes, those forwards really are quite inspiring. I really admire the talent of the artist, Michael Israel, and the emotion he elicits by his unique way of painting. It's worth watching the whole thing. It’s particularly emotional if you are an American, or if you have relatives or friends who were victims in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Since it was “Memorial Day” in America on May 25, I decided to post this message.

Well, I’ve been sick these past few days. I almost got to have a free ride in an ambulance! Let me explain…

If you read my last blog entry, then you know I went on a business trip to Osaka. If you’ve been watching the news, you also know that there have been many cases of the swine flu in Osaka. I was in Osaka on Friday, and I caught the last bullet train back to Tokyo Friday night. I was fine Saturday morning, and I even went to my Japanese class. However, that evening I began to feel sick. I took my temperature and it was 37.9 degrees Celsius (100.2 degrees Fahrenheit). I thought to myself, “Osaka… fever… swine flu… omigosh*!” Then I thought of the crowded train on the way home.

Oooh, they look angry!**

How many people did I infect?! I hope none of my nice teachers in my Japanese class get sick…

My wife told me that we didn’t have to call the “swine flu hotline” unless my temperature went above 38 degrees. Well, Sunday afternoon, my temperature rose to 38.2 degrees. We called the hotline, and they told us that they would send an ambulance the next day, but not to worry because the ride would be free. I thought that they’d take me to the hospital where people with masks and rubber gloves would do all kinds of tests. I even thought that maybe I’d be put into a glass room and tests would be done with remote control robotic arms. Okay, so I have an overactive imagination.

In a way, it was all a little bit exciting. After all, a FREE ambulance ride! However, the next morning, my temperature dropped to normal again, and since I never developed a cough or sore throat, they concluded over the phone that it was not the swine flu. So, I didn’t get the free ride in the ambulance. I was a little disappointed because I was planning on taking some exciting pictures in the ambulance to post here on my blog. Oh well…

*omigosh: That’s a fast way of saying “Oh, my gosh!” or the Japanese exclamation of “Eeeeh!”

** The picture was actually not taken in Japan by me, but was retrieved from the following website: http://www.danielbowen.com/
(I just thought it was funny.)